Brandon Clarke ended his magnificent, efficient night with a dunk at the buzzer. He had no reason to dunk. His San Jose State Spartans had already clinched victory over Air Force.

He dunked anyway, just to add an exclamation mark to his near-perfect Saturday afternoon at Clune Arena.

Clarke scored 36 points on only 22 shots, and added five assists, five rebounds and five blocks while leading the Spartans to a dramatic 89-85 victory.

Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich shrugged as he considered Clarke’s demolition job on the Falcons.

“He’s a really good player,” Pilipovich said. “He’s been playing like that all year.”

All year? Not exactly, coach.

Clarke, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, came into the game averaging 16 points. He had not broken the 30-point barrier this season.

He’s ultra-quick and crafty under the basket, but his jump shot is among the ugliest you ever will see. His left arm goes one way and his right arm goes the other. It’s a mess.

Air Force forward Hayden Graham grimaced as he remembered the Falcons’ futility against Clarke.

“A guy goes for 36,” Graham said. “A one-dimensional player. He’s good, but I mean he’s only around the rim. Ah, 36 points? You can’t let that happen. That’s just not acceptable.”

With 2:51 left, Clarke had carried San Jose to an 81-72 lead, and the Falcons looked done. The game had featured 15 lead changes, but another lead change seemed highly unlikely.

Give the Falcons credit. They rallied in front of a small (2,417) crowd at Clune.

Two free throws by Trevor Lyons with 12 seconds left cut San Jose’s lead to 87-85. The Spartans bumbled the in-bounds pass, giving Air Force a final chance for overtime, or victory.

Lyons, who led the Falcons with a career-high 24 points, drove into the lane and saw a crowd waiting for him. Then he looked to his right, where freshman Lavelle Scottie was uncovered five feet from the rim.

“I saw Lavelle by himself,” Lyons said.

The pass arrived cleanly in Scottie’s hands. The freshman didn’t hesitate. He immediately took a shot.

San Jose forward Brandon Mitchell came roaring across the lane to make a superlative block, catching the ball near the top of its arc.

The ball bounced straight back to Scottie. He should have gone straight back up, but instead took one dribble. Mitchell swatted the ball away, and soon Clarke was dunking.

“I’ve run that play through my head,” Lyons said of his pass to Scottie. “What I could have done different. What I should have done different.”

Lyons shouldn’t torture himself. He made the right choice.

Graham emphasized the burden for the defeat should not be placed on Scottie.

“Now he knows different things to do,” Graham said. “Take a shot fake. Don’t put the ball on the floor. But there’s no reason to put the blame on him.”

Graham is right. The blame should be placed primarily on Air Force’s defending, or lack of it. The Spartans shot 60.7 from the field and 47.6 percent from 3-point range.

The loss dropped Air Force to 2-3 in the Mountain West and 9-9 overall. San Jose improved to 2-3 and 9-7. The Spartans are a rising program. They came into the game with six wins in their previous 58 Mountain West games.